This invention relates to the prevention of tampering with electrical equipment. In particular, this invention provides a device for providing tamper-proof protection for the works of electrical appliances and household watt-hour meters.
While this tamper-proof fastener is useful with various types of electrical equipment, its major use is the protection from tampering of household electrical watt-hour meters. Household watt-hour meters have their works within a metal base enclosed by a glass cover. The glass cover, which prevents access to the works of the meter, is held in place by a sealing collar which clamps a flange on the glass cover to a similar flange on the metal base of the utility meter. Because of the rising cost of electricity, tampering with utility meters has become an increasingly prevalent problem. To combat this tampering, utilities have been seeking ways to make utility meters essentially tamper-proof. The most common method currently in use for preventing unauthorized access to utility meters is the key; that is, the sealing collar of the utility meter is fastened by a lock which requires a specific key. The problem with this method is that the keys may be lost or duplicated. If an unauthorized key is used to open the sealing collar, there is no evidence of tampering. Therefore, utilities are looking for another simple, economical method of preventing unauthorized access to utility meters. For economic reasons, any solution to this problem should use conventional sealing collars and require a minimum of reeducation of utility company personnel.